What do you think...

[VickiesMomma]

I'm surprised at the prices being listed. I know sitters who watch children the whole week while the parent work, the children are not school age. and only get 100-125 a week. I guess it depends on the area. You will also be competeing with daycares which tend to charge 150-250 a week.

[MeganS]

Originally Posted by Buddy-licious

WOW, I guess where I live babysitters are expensive!! I have one child and I have always paid between $7 to $10 per hour. New Years Eve babysitters get between $250 to $500 for the night depending on how many kids.
I have not paid a sitter in years though....our son goes every where we go or he goes to a friends house while we are out.

Good luck with your babysitting ventures!!!

I need to move to your neighborhood. $500 for New Years Eve! Heck yes.

Now i have a new question. How do I go about getting jobs? I just moved to a new town, so I don't really know anyone. But there are A LOT of kids around here.

[xtine]

im not sure as i thankfully haven't needed a babysitter yet (we're lucky with our parents )..

but my brother and his wifey have a babysitter they pay 100 a week i think for 1 child for a few hours, i know she does everything, changing diapers, feeding.. but then again it's inexpensive because she's a friend of the family i think

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by Superstarkba

Yep, but think about it.. shes an older lady not out to make money. She doesn't work so shes at home anyways.. so why not watch kids instead of sitting at home being bored?? She usually has atleast 5 there all the time.. then she gets a few older ones once school gets out. I would do the same if I was her

oh i mis-read it, i thought that's what YOU charge. i was thinking you were crazy LOL

[Superstarkba]

Originally Posted by kalina82

oh i mis-read it, i thought that's what YOU charge. i was thinking you were crazy LOL

No, lol. I don't babysit.. I have enough with kids with just my sister being around!!

[Nikki+2]

It depends on the location a lot. When I lived in Palm Beach county we paid our sitter $10 an hour for my one (very well behaved) daughter. When we moved here to Melbourne our sitter charged us $5. My daughter is now old enough to start babysitting a bit- she sat for some of my mom's firends in NC and they paid her $6 an hour and she sat for our friends' son once here and they paid her $9 an hour- which seemed pretty generous to me. I've probably confused you more than helped you but that's my experinces in the babysitting world.

[MeganS]

^No, that did help.

Thank you guys. I think that this is how it'll work:

For one kid:
$5/hour on weeknights
$6/hour on weekends
plus an extra dollar for every kid after the first one.

and if its a continuing job, prices will change a bit. and of course things will be flexible depending on what the responsibilities will be, etc.

Do you guys think that is good?

[Nikki+2]

Originally Posted by MeganS

^No, that did help.

Thank you guys. I think that this is how it'll work:

For one kid:
$5/hour on weeknights
$6/hour on weekends
plus an extra dollar for every kid after the first one.

and if its a continuing job, prices will change a bit. and of course things will be flexible depending on what the responsibilities will be, etc.

Do you guys think that is good?

That sounds very resonable to me. As a parent I would have no problem with that.

[mistyinca]

Originally Posted by MeganS

is a reasonable price for a babysitter to charge? I thought I'd post this here, cause I know a lot of you have kids so you probably hire a babysitter from time to time.

I want to start babysitting, and I really have no clue what to charge, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

I've paid $5 a kid (two kids) per hour. It has been a few years since mine are now teens.

[browniesmom622]

i get paid $10 An hour but i work late nights
here in ny under $7 is to cheap & its by age babies(under3) are over $12
older is Less & you charge more if you have to pick the kid up & drop off any where
Nights are always more money


& unless they ask you a price always have them say whats there willing to pay

[mustangbee]

Hi Megan! I'm going to give you some Tucker's Auntie Advice

Find the American Red Cross in your new town and take their babysitting class. (you get paid more if you're certified)
After that you can go to the schools and let them post in their parent ads.
I have never used a babysitter for my kids, but I have friends who do, and everyone of them has taken the class. I wish you lots of luck with this, there are some downsides (diapers) LOL, but the ups far out weigh the downs!

Who knows, just maybe you can make enough money to bring Tucker out here to see Princess I'll even take you shopping

Best of luck!

I Love Ya!

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by browniesmom622

i get paid $10 An hour but i work late nights
here in ny under $7 is to cheap & its by age babies(under3) are over $12
older is Less & you charge more if you have to pick the kid up & drop off any where
Nights are always more money


& unless they ask you a price always have them say whats there willing to pay

yup that's how it works around here too. i don't baby sit anymore but that's about what i was paid a few years ago. megan i think you are shorting yourself, tho if your in south jersey it might be ok. i'm not too sure how far south you are.

[SladesMommy]

I think the prices you have set sound reasonable.

Back when I started babysitting at 12, I got btwn 4-5 an hr for one kid... a bit over if it was more than one (that was 12 yrs ago!), and mainly only did short jobs during the day. When I was 16, more responsible and could do more and be trusted with more I got around $7. When I got into college and had tons of experience, plus able to be trusted with almost anything, able to stay over night, etc. I got $10 an hour. Now I get btwn $10-12.

Oh yea, and I've never had set rates. Usually the parents just pay what they feel it was worth.... which can sometimes be a pleasant surprise.
I had one family pay me $20 a day to pick up their kids from school and keep them for 45 mins.

Not too sure about how to go about getting jobs. When I was in HS I worked at a daycare center, so most of my jobs came from parents their, or ppl they had recommended me too. I also got many jobs by working in my churchs nursery.

[kaitlyn]

Originally Posted by MeganS

I need to move to your neighborhood. $500 for New Years Eve! Heck yes.

Now i have a new question. How do I go about getting jobs? I just moved to a new town, so I don't really know anyone. But there are A LOT of kids around here.

One thing that may make parents feel better about leaving their kids with you, since you are new to the town is find your local red cross and take infant and child CPR. Adding CPR certified to your listing will help out alot. In my area they offer babysitting classes and you get a certificate when you complete it. It last for a couple days and goes over basics. You could also list your family members as references. The price list that someone gave you earlier sounds really great. I wish I could find one to keep mine for that cheap!!

[mizzwanned]

Well my friend babysits and she gets anywhere from $12-$15 an hour. I get $15 an hour for babysitting and more, depending on age of the children and how many children i am babysitting, also depends on if i do extra stuff like light cleaning, cooking and tutoring. I have been babysitting since i was 13. I have heard of some ppl here charging $18/hr. I think it all depends on age and experience. I used to get a lot less when i was younger.